By ADAM ZAGORIA
Mike James, the 6-foot-6 small forward from Orlando (FL) Oak Ridge and the E1T1 AAU program, is down to eight schools.
Ranked the No. 18 small forward nationally in the Class of 2021 by 247Sports.com, James is down to Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Alabama, USF, Oklahoma State, Cincinnati and Arkansas.
He will announce Sept. 9 and has one more Zoom call with Louisville before he announces.
He broke down his top eight for ZAGSBLOG:
Texas A&M – “They are losing wings, they’ve been recruiting me hard since last year. Buzz [Williams] likes guys with my play style, and I’ll have a good opportunity to step in and play.”
Virginia Tech- “I have a great relationship with the staff and Coach [Chester] Frazier. They stress they are in need of a big guard, they have recruited me very hard ever since they offered me and they want me to be a big contributor my freshman year.”
Louisville – “They’re one of the best schools in the country, they will be losing a lot in the backcourt so that means I can come in have the opportunity to play.”
Alabama – “I like their style of play. They play very fast pace and get shots up fast. They’ll be losing [John] Petty and Herb Jones my incoming year so I’ll have a good opportunity to compete and play.”
USF – “They are the closest school on my list to home. I have a good relationship with Coach [Brian] Gregory and the staff, they were the first to recruit me and believe in me.”
Oklahoma State- “Coach [Mike] Boynton and Coach [Erik] Pastrana were one of the first schools to recruit me. They’ve been to multiple games to see me play and believe I can come in and be a contributor right away.”
Cincinnati – “The best team in the AAC. Basketball is really big over there. They use their guard and wings a lot in their offense and that would be good for me. They see me coming in and replacing one of their best players Keith Williams.
Arkansas – “The whole staff have had NBA experience. They’ve been recruiting me hard since they have offered. They like big guards and wings like me and they feel like I can come and play and be a contributor to the team right away.”
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